Analyst Downgrades: United States Steel Corporation, LinkedIn Corp, and Baker Hughes Incorporated

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X), LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), and Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI)

Josh Selway

Apr 8, 2016 at 9:29 AM

BHI
LNKD
X

Analysts are weighing in on commodity stock United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X), professional networking site LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), and oilfield services provider Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on X, LNKD, and BHI.

UBS lowered its rating on X to "sell" from "neutral" this morning, though the brokerage firm also raised its price target to $12 from $8. The commodity stock has put in a terrific 2016, more than doubling in value at $16.01 -- though the overhead 320-day moving average has offered stiff resistance in recent sessions. Elsewhere, short interest has been plummeting on United States Steel Corporation, sliding over 15% in the last two-week reporting period. Although over 30% of X's float is still sold short, it'd take less than two days for bears to cover, at the stock's average daily volumes.

At $112.43, LNKD has failed to stage a serious rebound since its huge post-earnings bear gap in early February. The shares' year-over-year deficit sits at 55%, and analysts continue to cut their expectations. MKM Partners this morning downgraded the stock's rating to "neutral" and moved its price target down to $130, citing a quarterly decline in online job postings -- a former tailwind for the stock. LinkedIn Corp is still vulnerable to more bearish attention, too, with 15 of 31 covering analysts saying it's a "buy" or better, while none deem it a "sell."

BHI got hit with a downgrade to "underperform" at Jefferies, which also cut its price target to $34 -- six-year-low territory. Also, Nomura initiated coverage on the stock with a "neutral" assessment. However, Seaport Global Securities raised its price target to $56 from $53, which marks a 33.6% premium to Thursday's close at $41.93. With the stock already down over 9% in 2016, shareholders now have to worry about the Department of Justice's attempt to block the company's merger with Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL). In the meantime, options speculators have been bullish, with almost three Baker Hughes Incorporated calls bought to open for every put during the past 20 days at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX).

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